This Mamma recently took a break from whining to enjoy some much deserved…and needed wine. Read on for our visit to Lulu Island Winery in Richmond BC.
This year while struggling with what to get my Mother for her birthday, I thought “what better than the gift of an experience and time together??” Additional bonus: she won’t have to find a place to store the experiences except in her heart, memory, and maybe in a photo book.
I am currently navigating the terrible Two’s …I hear a lot of, Mamma…Mamma…MAMMA!…..Which has reminded me of my childhood and all the; “Mooom Scott’s bugging meeee!” moments. Given this I knew exactly what my mom deserved WINE, which presented itself in the form of a tour at Lulu Island Winery.
I was able to take advantage of a Groupon making it an affordable choice. I opted for the winery tour and tasting for four with Signature Charcuterie Platter. The package had great reviews.
The tour was 90 minutes and include a visit to the vineyard, production area, and a video about ice wines. After the tour, we sampled a variety of table, fruit, and ice wines paired with gourmet meats and cheeses.
The Tour:
The tour started in what they refer to as “China House” this is where they hosted the Chinese Olympic athletes during the 2010 winter Olympics. From there we moved through the tasting rooms while our guide identified various points of interest. We were able to view the private tasting room with a beautiful antique piano center piece. We made out way outside to the grapevine tunnel a beautiful spot for photos, then to the vineyard. The tour of the production area and an explanation of the wine making process was by far the most interesting. We finished the tour with a video explaining how icewine is made, which was very enlightening, now I understand the price tag for this type of wine.
Wine Tasting and Charcuterie:
After the tour we sampled eight different types of wines, including table wine, fruit wine and Icewine. My favorite wine was the Special Reserve Merlot, which had a rich flavor but smooth finish. The dessert wines were very sweet; the raspberry was tart and smells like Jam., the blueberry was smoother. I think they would be nice over ice cream. The Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine has a delicious caramel flavor that reminds me of port.
The package advertises a signature charcuterie platter of gourmet foods like cheese, turkey, ham, olives, chocolate, kiwi and strawberries. I would disagree that this is a “gourmet platter,” many of the items are from Costco and I felt Prosciutto was missing. However that said, it is a tasty platter that you have likely made at home and a good overall value.
I recommended this as a fun and affordable local experience. If you want to skip the tour entirely, you are welcome to purchase a bottle of their wine, and bring a picnic to enjoy in the grapevine tunnel….sounds like a perfect date to me. 😉
Yum I love good wine snacks! Unfortunately it looks like the YouTube video doesn’t work.
Thanks for letting me know I have updated the photos.
You had me at wine and a tour, always love wine tasting so much (never knew there wineries in BC)! Totally agree that the platter of ‘gourmet foods’ does not look to gourmet.
Yes it was not, but it was still yummy despite the appearance.
I’ve never been to a winery before, and I definitely would want to visit one given the chance. Such an awesome experience!
Oh how fun…it looks like you had a great time. This is definitely a beautiful winery and a lovely place to visit.
IT was I look forward to going back for a picnic
This looks like a lot of fun. I really hope you had a great time at this beautiful place. Winerys can be really interesting to visit.
It was surprisingly interesting, I had no idea how much went into the Icewine process.
What an awesome experience! It’s been some time since we last went of a winery tour and it would be nice to try this one.
Oh, what a cool tour, It looks like you had an amazing time there. definitely, a beautiful winery to visit.
What a great tour – I love the pics and the sound of the wine tour. I want to go now and taste the wine and that scrummy food!
This place looks so beautiful! I love wineries, I’d definitely be interested in doing this. x
Looks like a great place to visit. I’ll definitely go here one day with my family.
The place looks fab and over all I love the idea. I would definitely like to explore doing this with my mom. Absolutely loved your post, thanks for sharing <3
What a beautiful place to enjoy a nice day and some great wine! How fun! And such a great tour too!
Oh man…. those terrible twos are terrible! This tour looks like so much fun!
Wow! How I love to visit a vineyard and a winery! I bet you had a good time. Thanks for sharing, I would do same when I visit one.